The whole focus of the exercise is to reward excellence and innovation in
professional photography in 2016. It is about creating benchmarks and standards
gleaned from the input and discussion of industry peers. This is not about
whether you sold the image to your client or not. The fact that you sell images
is expected of you as a conventionally operating professional photographer.

This is about you the entrant aspiring to be, and pushing yourself to be, the
best of your ability in the art, craft and discipline of professional
photography to the end benefit of your customer, our industry, and your own
enrichment as a professional photographer.

Unlike many other organisations, The Societies is committed to providing a
medium and a direction for new members of this industry. Even to the most casual
observer, watching hundreds of different images, (representing our best
efforts), move past one's eyes whilst being discussed is a fabulously rewarding
process – if you allow it to be.

Some people think it's a waste of time unless they win. It's a waste if you
don't watch!

Whilst the judges will attempt to discuss the vast majority of images, The
Societies 20x16 Print Competition cannot guarantee each print will receive
individual critique from the judging panel unless entered into the Nouveau
Category.

The Judges

Judges will be pooled from an international line up, all of whom have judged at
International level. It is the intent of The Societies 20x16" Print Competition
to be informative, helpful and above all, educational in their comments on all
images. The panel of five judges and one panel chair works together to bring a
diversity of experience and knowledge to the assessment.

Judges are permitted to enter, but are removed from the judging at an
appropriate time (often as part of a standard judge's rotation) before their
work comes up. Any indication by any judge that the work is theirs will result
in immediate disqualification of the judge and the entry.

Judges are required to undemonstratively step down from any image they feel
unable to judge, either because they know the maker, or because they are
uncomfortable with the content, or unable to bring suitable useful commenting to
the print. ‘Stepping down' from a judgement for the later reasons is highly
commendable as it allows ‘other eyes' into the judgement.

Judges may appear to have wildly diverse scores for the same image. This is
quite normal and reflects the different experience, knowledge, opinion and
appreciation that judges as individuals have. Scores are averaged across the
five judges. The Panel Chair may be required to vote in certain circumstances.

It is not acceptable for Judges to make decisions based on personal prejudice or
alter averages by vast increases or decreases of score. Judges are not permitted
argumentative or confronting behaviour to other judges. Any of this will result
in the judge being removed.

A judge may feel strongly that an image has not received the appropriate level
of score (in either direction) and may request it brought back. The Panel Chair
will accept the subsequent request for re-scoring to be well thought out and
concisely presented. This is not a regular occurrence.

Members of the public and entrants are welcomed and encouraged to observe the
judging, learn from the process, and congratulate scores. They are not permitted
to engage in discussion with any sitting judge, or engage in disruptive
behaviour.

Print Presentation Requirements - Please Read Carefully

Prints are destined to be critically appraised by judges, extensively displayed
and to be retained for archival purposes. They need to be light and compact for
ease of transportation and display; of a standard size and format for ease of
handling and judging and be of materials which will not damage other entries.
Furthermore, as prints will be viewed by judges, peers and the public, both the
content and the presentation must be of a professional standard.

With these requirements in mind, the following notes have been prepared. Please
use these requirements when preparing your entry, or if you use professional
mounting services pass this information on to them.

Entries not complying with these requirements may be disqualified at the
discretion of The Societies 20x16" Print Competition.

Print Surface finishes – (An advisory)

For many years, it was felt that gloss surface finishing provided the best
result. It does certainly reveal all tones, and enhances blacks and colours.
However, we now have many wonderful surfaces to work with in order to enhance
the communication of our image.

You may find a matt, textured paper works well with your image for example.
Please just remember that under the judging lights, a matt surfaced print will
not appear to have as strong blacks as a lustre or gloss finished image. This
could enhance your image beautifully, or it might just make it dull.

There are many wonderful laminating products available today, but we would
caution you against using strongly textured overlays as these generally dominate
the image adversely.

The Print Density

It is important that when you assess the prints you are making for judging, they
be viewed under lighting that matches internationally accepted standards for the
print judging environment.

Some professional laboratories set-up environments matching the national awards
systems to make the best prints possible. You can do the same by following these
guidelines.

We must advise you to take the trouble to look at your prints before you finish
them to make sure they look good under the strength of light we use in judging.
This isn't hard: a strong tungsten light like a Studio light or even a ‘patio
light' will show you tonality.

You want to look at your print with a light source that's giving you about
1/60th @f2.8 on 100ISO. Believe us when we tell you that far too many prints
each year suffer from not being the right density.

All prints and mounts must be stuck together firmly and permanently. Recommended
fixatives are dry mount tissue, JAC paper double-sided adhesive and commercial
heat/pressure mounting techniques usually available through professional framers
and professional laboratories. Hinge mounting is not acceptable in The Societies
20x16" Print Competition. Improperly mounted, or rippled prints will lose marks for
quality of professional presentation.

It is because of this that we recommend using a bevelled-edge window mount over
any competition image to protect and enhance the print surface. All glue, velcro,
sticky tapes, labels etc must be thoroughly removed before submitting to The
Societies 20x16 Print Awards as they may damage other entrant's work. If we feel
any entry supplied will damage another – for whatever reason – we will
disqualify it.

The Mount Material.

The mount size of all entries must be 16x20 inches (the metric equivalent
50x40cm is also accepted.).

The mount must comply with either of the following:

Option 1:

Mounted on a backing board and matted behind a window mount.

Option 2:

Flush mounted on single board
The mounting must not exceed 6 mm deep (thick).
Recommended and acceptable backing/mount boards:

Cardboard

High density foam core

Self-adhesive mounting board

Both window mount and backing board must be the same size. Stick them
together strongly and securely. Double or multiple matting is permissible, (if
you really must), however the total thickness of any entry must not be greater
than 6 mm.

No mounting on soft Styrofoam, thin chipboard, MDF, aluminum, masonite or
acrylic. Taping of mount edges is not acceptable on any entry as this can leave
residue on other entries.

Legal Bits.

If an image is considered unsuitable for the category as marked, The Societies
20x16" Print Competition reserves the right to move it into a category it deems
suitable. Judges are requested to ‘Judge the image' in front of them and NOT to
adversely mark it due to perceived unsuitability of category.

The Societies 20x16 Print Competition reserves the right to reproduce any image
submitted for publicity/educational purposes in the UK and overseas. It is the
entrant's responsibility to obtain any and all permissions including the model
releases and/or copyright owner's permission to have the images judged and
possibly displayed and published.

Any entry in the Wedding category found to be of models, from a seminar, or not
a job that the entrant was hired to do, will result in immediate
disqualification of that entry, and will require the return of any prizes,
titles and gifts given or their monetary equivalent where applicable at the
discretion of The Societies

If several photographic elements are used in the final image, all the elements
must have been taken at the same wedding.

If you happen to win an Award, by entering these Awards you agree to be
respectful of The Societies and the sponsors of the Awards. Without our sponsors
these Awards would not happen, so you are not entitled to use these Awards to
make any personal or competitive representations that may be antagonistic to the
sponsors.

The Societies 20x16" Print Competition reserves the right to choose not to judge
any image regarded as inflammatory or offensive. This is a rare occurrence.

Overseas Entrants' Instructions:

To ensure your entries are passed through International Customs, without
additional fees and taxes, please mark your Customs Declaration as follows:

Printed Matter Only. No Commercial Value.

The Societies 20x16" Print Competition will not be responsible for paying any
import duties or fees and entries requiring such will not be accepted.

All bookings are final. We reserve the right to change speakers and exhibitors without notice.

The Societies of Photographers Convention and Trade Show at The Hilton London Metropole Hotel ... You have 144 days until The Societies of Photographers Convention starting on Wednesday 10th January 2018